Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Anatomy Of Habit

Ciphers + Axioms

Put together great musicians from diverse backgrounds
and you are bound to get something special. That is what happens with
Anatomy of Habit and their debut album. With an impressing line up which
includes guitarist Will Lindsay of Indian, drummer John McEntire of Tortoise, percussionist Theo Katsaounis of Joan of Arc, bassist Kenny Rasmussen (previously of Radar Eyes) and of course fronted by Mark Solotroff of Bloodyminded,
you can be sure that this is bound to be interesting. The band had
already released an EP back in 2012, giving us a first taste of their
sound and raising the expectations.

It is quite difficult to
pinpoint the style of Anatomy of Habit, since each member puts a piece
in the musical identity puzzle. In the two songs of Ciphers + Axioms
(which run for more than twenty minutes each), the band is able to
throw together post-rock, deathrock, noise, post-punk and doom to create
their own twisted outlook of reality. What is stunning about this band
is how they are capable of retaining fluidity, especially when things
take a turn for the more abstract, as they do in the opening track where
the mixture of doom metal and post rock in the beginning of “Radiate
and Recede” gives out a very mesmerizing vibe.

Throughout the
record Mark Solotroff gives a great performance on the vocals. The
manner in which his voice accompanies the music is splendid. The big
vocals in the start of both songs create an imposing feeing which is
overwhelming to say the least. Especially the evolution of the tonality
of Solotroff’s voice in “Radiate and Recede” is astounding, starting
from the big, almost narrative sound and steadily becoming more
threating and menacing, finally breaking out full-blown extreme about
twelve minutes in the song, with screams all over the place. A thing of
beauty, Solotroff’s voice gives a huge boost to the nature of the band’s
modus operandi. On top of the repetitive patterns that they implement
and their mesmerizing melodies, they create a magnificent sonic
illusion.

Anatomy of Habit masterfully creates maze-like
structures which overpower the listener. The first four minutes of
“Radiate and Recede” are able to submerge you in their abstract concepts
with ease, while the “Ciphers and Axioms” lines in “Then Window” keeps
being repeated over and over again, slowly grinding your mind.
Especially though the final part of “Then Windows” the circling nature
of Anatomy of Habit really stands out, with the noise side of the band
taking over completely, slowly deconstructing the song to its most basic
parts. The percussion also aids greatly in all this, always coming up
with some interesting sounds and adding an extra texture on the sonic
pallet of Anatomy of Habit. On top of all that Lindsay’s guitar lines
tie in perfectly. Whether they are taking a turn for the more hypnotic,
as they do in the first part of “Radiate and Recede,” or the more
dreamlike guitar vibe, about four minutes in “Then Windows,” it is
always interesting and enticing. And once in every while of course, you
will get the heavier parts of the band, when they bring out their
doom-ier vibe. The thundering drums and heavy riffs about four minutes
in “Radiate and Recede” really stand out, as do the doom riffs about six
minutes in the opening song. There are even turns when things get more
furious, for instance about eight minutes in “Radiate and Recede” and in
the beginning of “Then Windows.”

Still with that impressive lineup what is expected is what Anatomy of Habit do in terms of sonic experimentation, and in Ciphers+Axioms
they do not disappoint. The background sounds are key for the concepts
of the band. The guitar adds greatly in the first two minutes of the
opening song, adding more variation to the part, while the
implementation of feedback, for example about fourteen minutes in
“Radiate and Recede,” will melt your face off, leading to a clinic of
experimentation of the guitar sounds in the ending of the song and an
exploration of its capabilities. And in “Then Windows” it just blows out
of proportion, with the fantastic build up for the first ten minutes
leading up to an anti-climactic change while the guitar is trying out
some stranger sounds, which manage to always sound suitable for the
music.

The noise input of Solotroff is quite obvious in the
album, even though it is kept on a tighter lease. “Radiate and Recede”
seems to be flirting with noise but never really giving in to it
completely. Especially about six minutes in the song, the noise
background seems to be ready to take over completely and change the
setting to a more ambient music moment. And of course in the second half
of “Then Windows” you get the great input of noise slowly oppressing
the music until it recedes and the track is deconstructed.

Even though Ciphers + Axioms
contains such a plethora of different musical concepts, the members of
the band are able to keep them in check and focus on the big picture.
The album manages to remain interesting throughout and will not let you
catch your breath for an instant.